ADVANCED SCIENCES INC OAK RIDGE TNBiblio.com
Chambers, RobertBiblio.com
Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation
1884022504London & Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers 1884. Twelfth edition. Portrait frontispiece over 100 small text engravings small thick octavo pp xxxi i 418 lxxxii ii becoming weak internally and the gathering at pages 275-286 nearly loose a little used and marked internally a few turned corners original green cloth decorated in black and gilt rather dull rubbed and scuffed the spine very blotched and bleached and virtually undecipherable. VERY SCARCE. With an introduction by Robert Ireland in which authorship of the book is first revealed. "The recent death of Dr William Chambers leaves me the sole surviving depository of a secret which about forty years ago was entrusted to four persons only". Originally published in 1844 this work of speculative natural history and philosophy brought together various theories of stellar evolution with the progressive transmutation of species in an accessible narrative which tied together numerous scientific theories of the age. It was initially well received by polite Victorian society and became an international bestseller but its unorthodox themes contradicted the natural theology fashionable at the time and were reviled by clergyman and subsequently by scientists who readily found fault with its amateurish deficiencies. 'Vestiges' caused a shift in public opinion which - so Charles Darwin believed - prepared the public mind for the scientific theories of evolution by natural selection which followed from the publication of 'On the Origin of Species' in 1859. The authorship of 'Vestiges' was finally revealed in the 12th edition of 1884. For a full account one should read James Secord's 624 page "Victorian Sensation" 2000. . Cloth. Fair. W. & R. Chambers Hardcover
Mike Park Ltd · Royaume-Uni125,00 £GB≈ 142,73 €
